- Planners of Influence/ Stature on Record – Hippodamus of Miletus, trained as an architect and considered as the first
Greek City planner and 'inventor' of the orthogonal urban layout.
– He developed the first philosophical basis for physical planning in cities by
studying Sumerian and Egyptian cities.

Planning Concern Outcomes - Rectangular Street system or gridiron system theorized as needed to give a geometrical
form of urban spaces. Residential blocks designed to enable houses to be serviced and
linked to public buildings & spaces. Houses arranged to guarantee privacy.

The grid plan of Miletus in the Classical period

 

17th century BC
- HAMMURABI – King of the Babylonian empire who made Babylon one of the greatest cities in antiquity
- he rebuilt Babylon, building and restoring temples, city walls and public buildings, and building canals for
irrigation
- The streets of Babylon were wide and straight, intersected approximately at right angles, and were paved
with bricks and bitumen.
. - Babylon was the largest city in the world from c. 1770 to 1670 B.C.E
- Babylon was one of the most important urban centers of the ancient Near East until its decline during the
Hellenistic period.

Between the inner and outer defenses was irrigated land with a
network of canals, some going back to the time of Hammurabi. Greek
tradition refers to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, a simulated hill
of vegetation-clad terracing over a vaulted substructure that in
Hellenistic times was deemed one of the Seven Wonders of the
World.
 

1900 B.C.
- YELLOW RIVER VALLEY OF CHINA - “land within the passes”. Precursor of Linear City.
- One of the oldest of human civilizations developed in ancient China.
- This civilization is named after its location: the Huang-He River Valley, or in
English, the Yellow River Valley. The region along the banks of the Huang-He
River to the north and the Yangtze River to the south were the first sites of
advanced cultures and civilizations in China.

‐ ANYANG‐ largest city of the Yellow River Valley
- BEIJING ‐ founded in approximately same location it’s in today ‐present form originated in the Ming Dynasty  
                    (1368‐1644) 

Ancient city of ANYANG Forbidden city of Beijing

 

27 B.C. – 334 A.D. (ROMAN EMPIRE)

- Government headed by the Roman Emperors

- Had the large territorial holding around the Mediterranean Sea in Europe, Africa and Asia.

5 Great Roman Emperors:

1. AUGUSTUS (R. 27 B.C.–14 A.D.)

- the first and arguable the greatest Roman Emperor after Caesar's death.
- he was born Gaius Octavianus on September 23, 63 B.C
- his policies certainly extended the empire's life span and initiated the
celebrated Pax Romana or Pax Augusta.
- In his famous inscription Res Gestae Divi Augusti (The Deeds of the
Divine Augustus) he claims to have restored or built 82 temples in one year.
- The famous public Roman baths were constructed under Augustus

2. TIBERIUS (R. 14–37 A.D.)

- second Roman emperor and the adopted son of Augustus, whose imperial
institutions and imperial boundaries he sought to preserve.
- He strengthened the Roman navy. He abandoned the practice of providing
gladiatorial games. He forbade some of the more outlandish forms of respect
to his office, such as naming a month of the calendar after him
- Caligula, Tiberius' grand-nephew and adopted grandson, succeeded the
Emperor upon his death.
 

3. CALIGULA (R. 37–41 A.D.)

- formally known as Gaius (Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus)
- the third Roman emperor, ruling from AD 37 until his assassination in AD 41.
- he initiated the construction of two aqueducts in Rome: the Aqua Claudia and
the Anio Novus.
- he completed the temple of Augustus and the theatre of Pompey and began
an amphitheatre beside the Saepta
- built a large racetrack known as the circus of Gaius and Nero and had an
Egyptian obelisk (now known as the "Vatican Obelisk") that was transported by
sea and erected in the middle of Rome.

4. CLAUDIUS (R. 41–54 A.D.)

- formally known as Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus
- the fourth Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-
Claudian dynasty.
- he extended Roman rule in North Africa and made Britain a province.
- he also took care of the infrastructure in city: Construction of aqueducts and
roads across the Alps; with the expansion of the port of Ostia he managed
to secure the necessary supplies for Rome with grain imports; and finally the
renovation of Circus Maximus.
- He also restored a third aqueduct, the Aqua Virgo. He also built many roads
and canals throughout Italy and the provinces. He hoped to be able to reduce
flooding in Rome.
- He built a road from Italy to Germany and a large canal leading from the Rhine
to the sea. He also built a canal on the Tiber, leading to Portus, his new port just
north of Ostia.

5. NERO (R. 54–68 A.D.)

- born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus
- formally known as Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus
- was the fifth Roman emperor and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty,
reigning from AD 54 until his death in AD 68.
- He was adopted by the Roman emperor Claudius at the age of 13 and succeeded
him on the throne.
- He ordered the construction of amphitheaters, and promoted athletic games and
contests.
- began building his infamous Domus Aurea, or Golden House, after a great fire
swept through Rome in 64 C.E. and destroyed much of the downtown area.
- After the city had burned in 65 AD, Nero had much of it rebuilt, at huge expense to
the Roman economy.
- It is interesting to note that it is as a consequence of this fire that special legislation
was passed in Rome in order to render the city more secure against fires. For
example, the use of concrete was encouraged rather than wood.
- Streets were also made wider, partly in order to render it more difficult for fire to
spread. This was a turning point in city planning and construction and buildings such
as the Colosseum and Pantheon owe something to this episode.
 

- Prevailing Influences: - Ambition to set up a one world empire

- Military domination
- Seed of the life and teaching of Christ by the writings and missionary work of St. Paul of Tarsus.
– Christianity developed in the province of Judea out of Jewish tradition in the first century CE,
spread through the Roman Empire, and eventually became its official religion.

- Dominating Ideology - Roman concept of one world order of different peoples sharing the same laws and leader:
- The Roman Empire Imperialism
- The Romans were unique among ancient peoples in that they willingly and freely
incorporated newly conquered people into their own society, freely giving citizenship to
outsiders in order to Romanize them and make them willing participants (instead of
unwilling subjects or enemies) in the Roman imperial system.
- The Romans called this system divide and rule because they literally divided up
conquered people into their component units (usually tribes and city-states), made
separate alliances and treaties with each, and induced each, through a complex
system of rewards, to keep an eye on the others and provide for the common defense.

- Syncretism
- the blending of religious belief systems into a new system, or the
incorporation of other beliefs into a religious tradition.
- The early Roman acceptance of other cultures religions into their own made it
easy for them to integrate the newly encountered religions they found as a
result of their expansion

Roman Cities – mainly adopted Greek forms but with different scale- monumental, had a social hierarchy

Roman Forums

The Forum Romanum, despite being a

relatively small space, was central to the
function and identity of the city of Rome
(and the wider Roman empire). It played
a key role in creating a communal focal
point, one toward which various
members of a diverse socio-economic
community could gravitate. In that
centralized space community rituals that
served a larger purpose of group unity
could be performed and observed and
elites could reinforce social hierarchy
through the display of monumental art
and architecture.